Straight Talk In 2021: What You Need To Know

Straight Talk Wireless was launched in 2009. It is one of several brands owned by Carlos Slim, founder of América Móvil, a Mexican telecommunications corporation. América Móvil is also the company behind TracFone and all of Tracfone’s associated brands which also include Walmart Family Mobile, Total Wireless, and Simple Mobile among others. Straight Talk is the largest of the brands closing in on 10 million subscribers.

In September of 2020, Verizon announced that it agreed to purchase Tracfone and all of its related brands from América Móvil for up to $6.9 billion. The deal isn’t expected to close until the latter half of 2021 barring regulatory approval.

Straight Talk’s Phone Plans Explained

The Straight Talk Wireless website exclaims “there’s a plan for everyone.” But due to their prices, I’m not sure they have a plan for everyone’s needs. There are certainly cheaper phone plans out on the market. Straight Talk does however have plans at different price points. There are 6 base phone plans, a special 2-line plan, and a buy more save more extended plan.

The absolute cheapest Straight Talk base phone plan costs $30/month. Customers on the plan get unlimited texts, 1500 minutes, and 100MB of hard capped data. That means data shuts off once a customer consumes 100MB of data in a billing cycle. Subscribers that enable auto-refill on their accounts get 50% more data, 150MB total, to use each month. Customers interested in this plan would be better served to take a hard look elsewhere as there are better values available. For instance, Straight Talk’s sister brand, Total Wireless, offers a $25 plan ($23.75 with auto-refill) that includes unlimited talk, text, and data with the first 1GB of data each month available at high-speeds. Like Straight Talk, Total Wireless also uses Verizon’s network for coverage.

Straight Talk’s other five base phone plans are priced as follows:

• $35/month ($34 with auto-refill) – 5GB of high-speed data
• $45/month ($44 with auto-refill) – 25GB high-speed data
• $55/month – *unlimited high-speed data, plus 10GB hotspot, SD video streaming limited to a resolution of 480p
• $60/month ($59 with auto-refill) – 25GB high-speed data, international calling
• $65/month – *unlimited high-speed data, plus 20GB hotspot & 100GB cloud storage, Mobile protect device insurance, HD video streaming at a resolution of 720p, international calling

Family Plan Discount Option

Straight Talk Wireless does not offer true group discount family plans. However, a 2-line plan is available for $90/month. The 2-line plan comes with all the same features as Straight Talk’s single line $55 plan. It includes:

• *unlimited high-speed data
• 10GB hotspot
• SD video streaming at a resolution of 480p

With the exception of the 2-line plan, Straight Talk customers cannot manage multiple lines under one account.

Be Aware, Unlimited Is NOT Unlimited!

*= If you are interested in a plan that Straight Talk calls unlimited you need to be aware that Straight Talk considers unlimited to be equal to 60GB of high-speed data. Once you consume 60GB of data during your billing cycle, Straight Talk reserves the right to shut off your data for the rest of your cycle. This applies to their 2-line $90, $55 “Ultimate Unlimited” and $65 “Platinum Unlimited” plans.

Extended Multi-Month Plan Option

Straight Talk’s $45 plan with 25GB of high-speed data is also available as a multi-month discount plan. Customers can get 3-months of service for $130, 6-months for $255 or 12-months for $495. The 3-month plan offers a savings of $5 vs paying by the month. The 6-month plan offers a savings of $15 and the 12-month plan offers savings of $45.

What Plan Features Are Supported By Straight Talk Wireless

Straight Talk’s phone plans support a variety of features, but some features may be limited to specific plans. Depending on their plan, Straight Talk customers may have access to the following at no extra charge:

• Mobile hotspot – available on all networks that Straight Talk can be used with except AT&T. Only available on the $55 and $65 plans
• Cloud storage – 100GB of cloud storage available to store all your files and photos, only available on $65 plan
• International calling – unlimited international calling included with $60 and $65 plan. Unlimited mobile to mobile to Mexico, China, Canada, and India plus calling to over 1000 landline destinations. Full list available here.
• Unlimited slow data at 2G data speeds – applicable to $35, $45, and $60 plans

Available Add-Ons

If you run out of high-speed data during a billing cycle, you can always add more. Straight Talk has two data add-ons available:

• $5 – 1GB additional high-speed data
• $10 – 2GB additional high-speed data

Unused add-on data does rollover to the next billing cycle.

A $10 international calling card option is also available. International calling rates are as low as 1¢ per minute.

Coverage

Straight Talk provides cellular service through all 3 major wireless providers in the USA which include AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon. Coverage on the legacy Sprint network is also still provided but may end by mid-2021.

An overwhelming majority of Straight Talk customers use Verizon’s network for coverage. This is primarily because most Straight Talk phones sold through its exclusive national retail partner Walmart, and sold through the Straight Talk website are Verizon compatible phones.

Data Speeds

In general, customers should expect data speeds on Straight Talk to be comparable to that of the underlying network’s. So if a subscriber has Straight Talk using Verizon’s network, data speeds will be similar to what they would be if the subscriber was a Verizon Wireless customer. Of course, there are exceptions to this.

Customers that live in an area where the underlying network is under constant duress will experience slower data speeds compared to if they were subscribed directly to the parent carrier network. As an example, a customer subscribed to Straight Talk using Verizon’s network may experience slower speeds during times of network congestion than they would if they had just subscribed to Verizon.

One other notable speed exception is that Straight Talk does not yet provide 5G network access on Verizon’s or AT&T’s network. Coverage is on their 4G LTE networks so there could be data speed differences if the customer goes from AT&T’s 5G network to Straight Talk’s AT&T 4G LTE network. However, Straight Talk should be granted access to all the carrier 5G networks sometime in the foreseeable future.

Straight Talk Also Sells Tablet Plans

If you have a tablet, you can bring it to Straight Talk. The tablet must be compatible with either AT&T’s, T-Mobile or Verizon’s network. There are 4 available tablet plans, and they really aren’t cheap. Pricing starts at $15 for 1GB of data. The full list of data only tablet plans is below.

• $15 – 1GB data
• $25 – 2GB data
• $40 – 4GB data
• $50 – 5GB data

The tablet plans are good for 30-days of service.

Customer Rewards And Referral Program

Straight Talk offers its subscribers a referral and rewards program. Customers that refer friends can earn reward points. The reward points can then be used to purchase a phone plan or a new phone. The reward point system operates on a sliding scale. A subscriber that refers one friend earns 5,000 points for the referral. But if they refer 2-4 friends they earn 9,000 points per each referral. New customers that signup for Straight Talk through someone’s referral also earn rewards points.

Subscribers can also earn Straight Talk Rewards points just by renewing their plans. Points can also be earned by performing simple tasks such as playing games, answering surveys and more. The Rewards program also gives customers access to free perks and local discounts to save on dining, shopping, and entertainment.